


Temporary Tattoos

by DeCappuccino



Category: Splatoon
Genre: ...sorta?, Childhood Friends, Cousin Incest, F/F, Fluff, Hmmmm ive dropped this story multiple times, Humour, One Shot, Pre-Splatoon 2, Soulmate AU, Tattoo’s, Time Skips, but uhmmmm, wanted to finish it i guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-02
Updated: 2018-08-02
Packaged: 2019-06-20 07:06:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15528849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeCappuccino/pseuds/DeCappuccino
Summary: “Callie, it seemed, was always someone constant and special in her life. Her number one best friend and close partner in both idol activities and leisure ones.They were a team, and no matter what, they’d stick together.“





	Temporary Tattoos

**Author's Note:**

> Wow look, a story after 6 months of nothing! :’D This will probably be the last Calamari story I’ll write though! So I hope you’ll like it!

She remembered it started midday on a Friday, while the sun was just barely above the mountains overlooking Calamari County.

Marie was crouched over the table situated in the living room. Her hands scribbling away at the sheet of paper describing her task omitted to her for the weekend.

She was so immersed in the assignment, she had yet to notice the sprawling ink blending across her arms in big heaps. Circles and lines grew along the length of her arms, decorating her skin as she worked on homework obliviously. It wasn’t until a pink streak strode across her index finger that she practically _flung_ her notebook across the room out of shock.

“Where did this even...?” She trailed off, inspecting the halt where the pink marker seemed to end. Marie never recalled drawing on herself... let alone allowing someone else to. Her slanted eyes trailed up her arms, gradually widening as she saw the crude streaks grow in size the higher she looked up forearm.

“Was this on me all day?!” She started. The floor underneath her creaked as she stood up and stroded over to the bathroom. She grabbed a rag from one of the cabinets by the sink, placing it underneath the running water. Within a few seconds, she began vigorously rubbing the ink off her skin.

But from what Marie could tell, the pink marker was still just as bright and fresh as if she hadn’t even spent the last twenty seconds harshly rubbing her skin.

As if on cue, another long line began to run down the length of her other arm, this time in a much darker, yellower shade. With wide eyes, she watched the line jolt up, ending just on the edge of her wrist. The line tapering off as if someone had just suddenly moved their arm right in the middle of drawing it.

She waited a few more seconds, her arm poised in the air in a ridiculous pose. How odd she must’ve looked if her mother walked in— standing tippy-toed by the bathroom sink, her arm hovering an uncomfortable distance from her face.

When nothing appeared after a few moments, she cautiously lowered her arm, eyes still glued to the end of the jagged marker line.

What in the world was that? She furrowed her eyebrows. She’d never actually seen that in any of the textbooks she read in class. Magic maybe...? Nah, that didn’t exist. Or at least, she didn’t think so. Wasn’t magic suppose to feel... magical? All she really felt right now was confusion.

Her eyes absentmindedly trained on the running water still trickling out of the faucet.

What if... what if it was her _soulmate_?

Marie suddenly felt a jolt of excitement. Her soulmate! Mother never really talked to her about the whole soulmate thing. But from the things she heard in school, it was supposed to be an exciting and life-changing sort of thing. The squids in her class always gushed about the writing that appeared on their arm in random times of the day. Most of them were just random ticks, like someone accidentally wrote on themselves. Marie found it kind of dumb, but grew accustomed to the banter her classmates would engage in.

Getting excited over random lines on your skin? Nah...

But getting excited over the big, bright pink ‘ _Hi_ ’ written in a messy scrawl? Marie swore she hadn’t ever been so excited over anything... especially since she hadn’t exactly noticed when her ‘soulmate’ wrote that.

“Marie?”

She jolted from her seat on the floor, her eyes meeting her mother’s bemused expression from the doorway. “What are you doing on the floor... and why is the sink running?”

* * *

For the next month, Marie would watch as colors ranging from pink to an ugly shade of brown get colored onto her skin in little doodles. She wasn’t worried about it anymore, the drawing tended to disappear on their own. It was sort of like temporary tattoo’s, except these only lasted for a few hours.

She could usually tell when her soulmate was in a foul mood. Accompanied with the sadly colored drawings (at this point, a drawing was almost always etched into her skin, happy _or_ sad) was an overbearing feeling of meloncholy.

Her mother explained that when your soulmate was experiencing a strong emotion, she’d also get to feel it— though, not quite as extreme.

Concerned, she turned her attention to the downtrodden lines. Coupled with the feeling of grief, they lacked their usual vigor. The streaky purple dragon perched on the mountain of her left arm didn’t even have its usual enthusiastic artistic style.

She had half a mind to ask what was wrong— before she realized she never even made an attempt before.

 _Oh_... Marie grumbled. How dumb she was.

Pulling the closest pen she could find — light green, she noted absently— she uncapped the marker and began writing.

Or at least, she tried...

How in the world did her soulmate manage to draw on her skin like that?

With a frustrated groan, she simply settled with a crudely drawn question mark.

Immediately the feeling of meloncholy was filled with a sense of shock— or was it excitement?

A pink circle quickly swooped around her question mark, followed by another question mark.

With a snort, Marie (to the best of her abilities) drew an exclamation mark. _Three_ to be exact.

There was a pause, before a happy face was quickly sketched on, followed by a multitude of different colored hearts. She felt a strong surge of glee, and Marie grinned victoriously at such a feat.

No longer did she feel the meloncholic weight on her conscience.

The feeling of cheering up your soulmate? _Priceless_.

* * *

Marie kept in contact with her supposed soulmate daily. She found out that her friend always wrote in pink. And so, to compliment her color choices, she chose green.

A bright neon green marker to match her vibrant pink.

Her heart swelled.

 _Never_ did it come across to ask her name.

* * *

One day, her mother announced that she would be visiting her sister— a.k.a. Marie’s aunt— for her daughter’s birthday.

Perplexed (Because for one: Marie didn’t even know she had an aunt. And two: apparently a cousin??), Marie was dragged along and drove approximately 5 miles west of where she lived, into a smaller suburban house overlooking the same mountains she could see from her bedroom window.

Her mother had told her her cousin was the same age as her, and they would (probably) get along. They shared a hobby at least: dancing and singing, so maybe it wouldn’t be as terrible? Marie gripped onto the green marker in her pocket, butterflies causing a frenzy in stomach. Meeting new people wasn’t her forte. So she felt a slight bit anxious... she wonder if her soulmate felt it too?

Well, at least she could talk to them when things went south right?

* * *

Callie was her name.

She was only older by a few weeks. A bubbly ball of energy that charged straight towards Marie the instant she saw her. She was immediately battered with questions before being pulled off to her room to play charades while the adults talked.

Oddly enough, Marie enjoyed her time there. Callie was as obnoxious as any twelve year-old could be, but surprisingly, that didn’t clash with Marie’s more reserved personality.

In fact, it seemed to match perfectly.

She found herself begging her mother to visit her Aunt’s more often.

And for the most part: it was a success.

“What are those for?” Marie questioned once they were settled down one afternoon. They had just gone bug hunting— something Marie would never willingly admit she enjoyed— and now it was time for a well deserved rest. Running around in the sun was hard... maybe that was why Callie was so tan and fit.

Her cousin looked over to where she pointed, a smile immediately breaking out as she caught sight of the box of markers haphazardly laid out on the table.

“Gramps got me those as an early birthday present!”

“Gramps?”

“He goes by Cap’n Cuttlefish,” her cousin explained. “He’s an _ooooold_ squid that fought in the Great War against the Octarians as a general.”

Marie furrowed her eyebrows. The history she knew, but the name of the a famous war hero never rang any bells. “Cap’n Cuttlefish...?”

Callie sat up, eyes wide. “You’ve never met our grandpa?” Her mouth hung open in a dramatic way, making Marie hide a laugh.

“No, not really.”

“Okay! As my _first_ mission today!” She held up her finger, her voice lowered dramatically, “I request to bring Marie to Cap’n!”

She raised a brow, “How many missions do you plan on taking on today?”

“As many as I want.” Callie stuck her tongue out playfully, before offering a hand to her younger cousin. “Let’s go?”

With a well humoured sigh, Marie accepted the request. “Lead the way.”

A fake evil cackle later, Callie pulled them out after telling her mother where she and Marie were planning on going. A minute later, they were walking to the next bus station and onto the busy streets of Inkopolis.

* * *

Within the next few years, Marie found herself hanging out with Callie more often— and less with her soulmate. The drawings became less frequent, and one day they finally stopped. Perhaps her soulmate grew out of art? Or maybe... they just grew up.

Not that Marie minded much. She knew she’d meet them one day. But for now, she was content with her best friend.

Her bubbly cousin that somehow manage to wiggle her way into her heart and plant herself there until Marie accepted it, whether she liked it or not. She was a huge pain at times, especially when it came to them practicing for the upcoming youth festival in Calamari County. But Marie found herself laughing more than she ever did before she met her.

Especially now since they were now old enough to join Turf Wars.

And seeing Callie constantly fall off ledges because of her absurdly large weapon their first few matches somehow tickled her funny bone. She was always fine afterwards of course. Afterall, Turf Wars were generally designed to be safe and fun.

It didn’t make it any less funny.

Callie would pout and whine and look cute, and Marie would turn away because for some reason, she knew her heart should _not_ be beating as fast as it currently was.

The constant visits to their slightly crazy grandfather helped though. They managed to pick up a few skills they wouldn’t have otherwised learned in the bare basics of Turf War. (It may have also helped that they were now Agents 1 and 2 in training.)

He often complimented them about teamwork. How Marie always had Callie’s back with her sharp aim, and how Callie never failed to protect Marie from bigger opponents.

Callie was usually all gung-ho and excited about it. She would always say ‘ _Octarian menace was on the rise; it was time for the heroes to save the day!_ ’ Or something like that. Marie was just happy to spend time with her.

Callie, it seemed, was always someone constant and special in her life. Her number one best friend and close partner in both idol activities, and leisure ones.

They were a team, and no matter what, they’d stick together.

By the time they were seventeen, they were practically Turf War pros.

* * *

“Ready to go?”

Marie watched as Callie slung her 15 lb. Hero Roller over her shoulder like it was nothing. Her playful golden eyes hidden underneath her jet black shades. “Yep! Oh wait...” she faltered. “Gramps asked us to buy milk after the mission right?”

“Mhm.”

Callie sheepishly grinned, “Toss me that pen over there then, please! I don’t think I’ll remember unless I write it down somewhere...”

With a roll of her eyes, Marie grabbed the old pink pen by Callie’s desk and tossed it towards her cousin. She was surprised that it still carried any ink with how aged it looked.

With quick swoops, she quickly wrote the word down, and pocketed the pen.

“Okay, got it! So, kettles three and four are out right?”

Marie hummed, “We took out the snipers above the first few floors. But we never went any further since Gramps called a retreat last moment for a Crabby Cake break,” she sighed, checking her ink tank as Callie laughed.

“Those were pretty good though!”

“Mhm.” She tapped the meter above her special indicator. “Anyways, they’ve probably already abandoned the Zapfish stationed there. Do you want to check that out first, Cal?”

When she didn’t hear a response, Marie looked up from inspecting her weapon. “Is that a no or...?”

“What’s on your arm?”

Marie looked confused, and Callie tapped her own wrist. “On your right.”

Looking down, Callie saw the familiar pink scrawl she hadn’t seen since she was around fourteen.

In all caps, the word ‘milk’ was written.

“... _Oh_.”

“Oh?”

In strong contrast to her vivid childhood daydreams, she was much calmer than she initially imagined. However, it didn’t stop the blush that was crawling up her neck. Slowly, she held her wrist up. “It says ‘milk’.” She deadpanned.

There was a look of confusion on Callie’s face. “Milk?” She repeated. “Y’know, If you already wrote it down, why didn’t you tell me so I didn’t havta’ — oh...” Callie suddenly stopped.

Even under those dark shades, Marie could see the spark of understanding in her golden eyes.

“So...—“Marie started.

“—You’re my soulmate!” Callie suddenly squeaked, her face was suddenly an oddly cute shade of red. “W-Whaaaat??”

It was Marie’s turn to look away in embarrassment. She was feeling the butterflies again. And if she was being honest, everyday spent with Callie gave her butterflies. _Ugh, so cheesy_... how didn’t she see this sooner?

“It would seem so.” She responded.

“Oh my Cod,” Callie muttered, “I’m really gay?!”

Marie couldn’t help herself, she laughed. “For your cousin,” she added. She knew her own preferences long before she met Callie. It didn’t bother her though. Squids these days were usually very understanding.

“Okay okay, that I knew—“

She whipped around, “ _What_.”

Her adorable disbelieving laugh gave her away though, “I’m gay for my cousin.” Callie uttered.

Marie studied her soulmate. “And you’re okay with that?”

Callie’s laugh died down, her tone serious, but her smile remained. “Yep!”

“Callie—“

“Marie,” Callie cut her off. She pointed, “If you want me to be completely honest, I’ve liked you since day one. It wasn’t until recently that I’ve sort of...”

Marie remained silent as Callie found her words, she was sure the tips of her ears were singed off at this point.

“From... From when we entered the Youth Festival. And performed that dance in front of the crowd? I think we were—“

“Fifteen.”

“ _Fifteen_.” Callie echoed, her large grin infectious. I’ve been in love with my cousin — who happened to secretly be my soulmate — since I was fifteen!”

Marie felt the heat crawling up her neck return full force, and she was glad she had her agent mask on. Her eyes closed in what she could only feel as relief. Her feelings were reciprocated. “Me too.” She murmured.

There was silence before Callie’s eyes widened and she did a double-take. “Wait what!! Really?!”

Marie lowered her mask and showed off her teeth in a sly grin, “Of course,” she shrugged, “Your awful puns won me over.”

“My puns were very punny and you know it!”

Marie rolled her eyes, “Is this a punishment?”

Callie laughed again, her eyes twinkling, “Do you want it to be?”

Marie flushed at the implications, and Callie pulled her into a hug. “I think this is the first time I’ve managed to get you to blush so much in one day, Marie!” Her voice was laced with amusement. “I consider this a huge achievement.”

Marie coughed, a terrible attempt to hide her smile. Her head was buried in Callie’s shoulder, so it’s not like it would matter. “...Don’t we have a mission we have to do?” Despite her words, she didn’t move, using this to hide the fact that she had the biggest, _goofiest_ smile on her face. How out-of-character, Marie... She half-heartedly scolded herself.

Callie’s giggles bubbled in her ear and she pulled away.

“Yes yes, after you, _cuz cuz_ ,” She gestured politely, her sunglasses slipping down her nose just enough for Marie to see the mischievous look Callie hid. She took a step towards the door before Callie pulled her back by her hand, slipped her mask down, and placed a small kiss on the corner of her mouth.

Marie froze, her usually slanted eyes widened in shock. In a split-second decision, she decided that she was already one-upped too much today by her older cousin, so she pulled Callie back, planting a quick one right on her lips. She spun around, leaving Callie sputtering, red in the face and at a loss for words.

“You better hope we don’t forget the milk.” She said as she slipped the mask back up, stalking off with a pounding heart and her jello legs.

It wasn’t until she was out the door did she check her wrist.

Next to the word, she found three pink neon hearts.


End file.
